Relight the Fire
by PyreFly77
Summary: Three days ago, a tragic accident tore the Paw Patrol apart. Right in front of Chase and Ryder, Marshall seemingly plummeted to his death, crushing the two of them with guilt and grief. But luck is a fickle mistress, and now Chase is in for the shock of his life.
1. I Should Be Dead

_**UPDATE 02/03/2019: A cover image has been recently added to this fic, made as a gift by Zojak. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to make this for me. It means more than you might think that you took the time to make something for me like this. Anyway: on with the show.**_

* * *

If you'd asked Marshall what the worst day of his life was, he'd struggle to give you an answer. He was no stranger to having a bad day where his clumsiness flared up or he got into a spat with one of the other pups. But at the end of those days, things would always get better. Either by smoothing the cracks over with the others, or by making up for his clumsiness by doing his best later on. He may have been a clumsy, unlucky pup, but truly bad days for him were few and far between.

Until now.

For the past three days, Marshall had been trudging near to the side of a raging river through a thick forest that he didn't even know. A raging river that had nearly killed him. Operating off of minimal water from what remained of his Pup Pack and whatever leaves and grass he could force down at the time, all that kept the dalmatian going was determination as the painful memory of where it all went wrong played on repeat through his head.

_It was meant to be all so simple. Ryder had brought him and Chase to recover Cali from a tree overlooking the river. Once more, the cat's movements were incomprehensible to all but her. However, things started going wrong very quickly. With the tree being on the very edge of the river bank, one wrong move threatened to send Cali, Ryder or the pups careening into the deadly rapids below._

_Marshall had to be very careful, and Chase had to fight to keep his nerves in check. Marshall and ladders didn't exactly go well together, and with something potentially-lethal barely a stone's throw away, Chase's heart was threatening to burst from his chest. Despite the danger, it all looked to be going so well. Until a frightened Cali had latched onto Marshall's head, blinding him to the world around him, and sending him toppling off of his ladder while Cali hopped to safety._

_One rough landing later, a tiny outcropping of rock just above the water was all that separated Marshall from his demise. It was only barely large enough for a pup of his size, but the worst part of it all was that Ryder and Chase couldn't even reach him because he was so far down. Even Chase's net was no help thanks to the awkward angle of the outcropping.  
_

_And the rock was beginning to break under Marshall's weight. Every crack served as a tick of the clock. Marshall was terrified out of his wits, but as the rock he stood on grew ever closer to breaking, he realised that there was nothing that could be done._

_He didn't want to die, but there was nothing he could do now but accept it. But as much as he tried, he couldn't keep himself from crying._

"_Guys… I'm sorry…" Marshall said with a tearful smile. "I guess this is the end..."_

"_Marshall, do NOT give up!" Ryder desperately commanded. "W-we'll think of something!"_

"_We'll call Skye! Zuma! Anyone!" Chase frantically yelled. "Just hang on! PLEASE!"_

"_There's no time left…" Marshall replied sadly. "Promise you'll take care of Adventure Bay! Take care of yourselves! Keep everyone safe like always!"_

"_MARSHALL, DON'T YOU DARE-!" Chase screamed._

"_Goodbye, Ryder! Goodbye, Chase!" Marshall sobbed. "I LOVE YOU!"_

_Marshall was sure those would be his last words as the rock finally crumbled to nothingness, dropping him into the freezing, roaring river that swept him away in an instant, trapping him beneath the surface. All he could hear was rushing water, which drowned out Chase and Ryder screaming their lungs out at their worst nightmare coming true._

_The Paw Patrol losing one of its members._

Marshall was still stunned at how he'd managed to wake up washed up on a riverbank in the middle of nowhere. His equipment was almost-completely ruined, his Pup Tag had been smashed to bits and he was freezing cold and thoroughly sore from being smashed against the walls of the river by the violent current, but after a few tests, he'd managed to confirm that he was still very much alive with nothing more than a few grazes.

The long walk back had given the pup time to think on his luck. Historically, it had been nothing but black mark after black mark for him. But somehow, when he needed luck more than ever, it came through to save him from an untimely end. It also seemed to be doing its job in keeping him from meeting hostile wildlife. But inbetween musing on his luck and fighting through fatigue, hunger and thirst, all he could think about was home.

Adventure Bay was always a peaceful town, where violent deaths were a mercifully uncommon occurrence. So how then was this small town going to react to one of its beloved protectors abruptly "dying" in a freak accident? How would Cali feel for indirectly causing his "death"? How would Katie feel knowing that Cali had accidentally "killed" one of her closest friends?

But above all, his thoughts drifted to Ryder and the pups. They had to have given him up for dead. After all, if the Paw Patrol were searching for him, they would have found him by now. How did Ryder and Chase break the news that Marshall wasn't going to be coming home? And how badly did they take it? Ryder in particular always freaked out if a pup was in serious danger, so how was he going to react to one of them seemingly dying right in front of him?

And then there was Chase.

Chase, the pup who he'd known the longest out of any of them. His brother figure. His nearest, dearest friend. Chase was always overprotective, hating to see anyone get hurt and never hesitating to chew one of them out for doing something especially dangerous. And he held himself to such high standards that he was always quick to blame himself for something not going correctly. He never took failure especially well. Something told Marshall that Chase was going to take this "failure" horribly. But how horribly? All kinds of unpleasant scenarios ran through Marshall's head, which, ironically, only sped him up, praying that Chase hadn't done anything drastic.

It had been a long day, and it was starting to get dark once more. A filth-encrusted Marshall could only keep following the river until he spotted a familiar-looking tree hanging over the river, the only one of its kind across his entire journey. As much as his spirits began to raise, his heart leapt upon seeing tire tracks in the dirt. Faded, but very much there. A delirious smile overtook the pup's face as he wasted no time in following them. Now he was back where this whole mess began, and only a stone's throw away from closing the book on it.

Marshall had forgotten how tired and thirsty he was as he followed the tracks as fast as he could. He had just about exhausted his water supplies, so this find couldn't have come at a better time for him. And sure enough eventually he found himself looking down upon the glittering lights of Adventure Bay. His home. And it had never looked more welcoming than it did now. Marshall didn't take long drinking in the sight of his home before casting his eyes to the Lookout. The slender tower that served as Adventure Bay's eternal pillar of hope. And now it was his. With the thoughts of his family engulfing his mind once more, Marshall charged towards the town as quick as he dared.

Marshall hadn't gotten far in the town before he noticed that everything was deserted. This much was to be expected, considering that night had fallen on the town, but along with the emptiness was a feeling of desolation in the air. Marshall couldn't quite place it, but the atmosphere was heavy and depressing. Just being in the town made him feel oddly hollow. Even so, the dalmatian stopped for nothing as he charged through the town to the Lookout…

...with the exception of a familiar blue truck parked on the road. Its occupant nowhere to be found. Marshall halted. What was Chase doing out so late? Perhaps he was doing patrols? But then he remembered that this wasn't far from the beach spot that he'd showed Marshall once. He said that it was always a great place to go when he needed to relax. When he needed a little time to himself. "Sorry, Chase." Marshall thought with a huge grin. "It looks like 'Chase Time' is gonna have to wait..."

Marshall wove a path through the trees and over the grass, before crossing a small footpath to finally let his paws sink into the soft sand of a hidden cove of Adventure Beach. And sure enough, right in front of him, in the middle of this tranquil, hidden slice of paradise was a sight that Marshall had hoped with all of his heart that he'd get to see again. A brown-furred german shepherd. Only Chase was facing away from him, towards the sea, lying on his belly almost entirely motionless.

Marshall found it hard to find the words to say. After three days of wondering if he was ever going to see his family again, here he was behind the one pup he cared about the most. The one pup who watched him "die". And words were completely failing him. Marshall could only stand a few feet away from Chase in complete silence, desperately trying to find something to say.

"What?!" Chase snapped all of a sudden, causing Marshall to jump. "Darn big ears..." Marshall thought to himself. "Here I was thinking I was being pretty stealthy!"

"I said what do you want?!" Chase snapped again, continuing to avoid turning in his direction. "Can't you see I'm thinking here?! If you don't have anything to tell me, just leave me alone!"

"Chase..." Marshall finally spoke up, causing Chase to visibly stiffen on the spot. "What are you thinking about?"

Marshall resisted the urge to slam his head into the sand. He spent all that time thinking for THAT?! What else could he have been thinking about?!

"What's with the cold shoulder?" Marshall continued, deciding to not allow himself to be deterred from asking more questions with obvious answers. Anything to get a conversation rolling. "C-can't you at least look at me?"

After a couple of seconds, Chase finally got to his feet and very slowly started to turn around, as if he wasn't sure if the voice coming from behind him was someone trying to trick him. Eventually, Marshall finally caught a glimpse of an amber set of eyes. The same eyes that were once filled with nothing but terror and desperation, now devoid of the usual determined glint that they carried. Chase's face shifted from one of confusion to one of raw disbelief as he fell backwards onto his rump. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and his jaw dropped more than Marshall even thought was possible, with Chase quickly covering his agape muzzle with his front paws.

For three days, Chase had been living in a waking nightmare. Not only was his best friend dead, but he watched him fall to his death right in front of him while just out of reach. For these three days, Chase was convinced that he'd failed to save Marshall. And now Marshall was standing right in front of him, if not well, then certainly alive.

"Chase, I… I know what you're going to say..." Marshall stuttered. "And no. I don't know how I survived. I don't know if it was just luck or something but..."

Chase didn't reply. He sat there as ever with his paws covering his mouth, staring widely at the allegedly-dead pup before him.

"Look, I know I gave up back there… But I… I made my own way back… I lived off leaves and Pup Pack water just to get me through that forest… And… I made it, so… no need to worry any more… right?"

Chase remained as silent as ever. It was as if a statue was sat before Marshall.

"Darn it, Chase, say something already!" Marshall shouted, starting to get worried. "I didn't nearly die so you could give me the silent treatment!"

"M… Mm- M… M-m-m… M-muh..." Chase had finally started to make sounds similar to speech again. But this was more of a squeaked series of noises.

"Muh… M-mu-muh… Mu-mu… Mmm… Mm-Ma… Ma-Ma… M… M-M-M… Ma… Ma-Ma-Ma..." Chase's voice gradually increased in pitch as his eyes flushed with tears.

"**MARSHALL!**"

Until finally, Chase yelled his name loudly enough that it could rattle the windowpanes of just about every building in Adventure Bay. It was so loud that Marshall was momentarily stunned by just how loud and sudden it was.

Marshall barely had time to react before Chase shot forward and leapt at him, knocking him sliding across the sand for a little while as the shepherd wrapped every one of his limbs around the dalmatian in a crushing bearhug. But the next thing that Chase did shocked Marshall more than anything. Chase started to bawl wildly into his fur.

Chase was never usually one to cry in general, so seeing the waterworks from him was always a shock for the Paw Patrol. But this time Chase was letting out a hysterical cacophony of wailing and screaming. It was as if Marshall was being hugged by a newborn pup.

The emotion in the air was contagious, and it didn't take long for it to spread to Marshall. The time he'd spent alone was finally over. After wondering if he'd actually make it back home, if he'd ever see his family again, he finally had his answer. Chase's ugly crying soon spread, and Marshall too began to wail as he held on to Chase as tightly as he could.

The fact that nobody came to investigate the source of the loud noise was astonishing. The wild bawling could be heard from a mile away. Neither Chase or Marshall had ever cried as hard as this, and somehow, they managed to keep it up for roughly ten minutes. Any attempt at talking from the pair of them simply came out as noise for that time. But slowly, yet surely, the two had started to calm down. While the tears continued to spill forth from their eyes, they were at least able to stop wailing enough to get their words out.

"Th… Th-this… This is real… r-right? Tell me… T-Tell me I'm… not d-dreaming… Tell me this… this is really you..." Chase sobbed, finally looking Marshall in the eyes.

"...B-B-Be… Believe it… or not… Y-Yeah..." Marshall whimpered. "It… It's really me… We're not… dreaming..."

"So I'm… not gonna wake up later… A-and find that… that you're s-still… dead..."

"N-no… Because I… r-really made it back…"

"S-so it's… it's official… Th-that's that… Y-you… You… Y-you're… YOU'RE ALIVE!" Chase began screaming again, sinking his face back into Marshall's fur. "YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Chase kept repeating himself in between his wailing, while hugging his friend as tightly as ever. If Marshall could see his friend's face, he'd see tears gushing from his eyes, but also a giant smile. Not that he needed to see it know the overwhelming jubilation Chase was feeling. Marshall continued to cry as Chase screamed with joy for another couple of minutes, slowly returning to his prior tearful state as he looked at Marshall once more.

"W-we… We saw you… We saw you fall into that river… We thought… thought you were… were..." Chase stammered.

"I know..." Marshall sniffled. "But I'm not… am I?"

"What… happened?"

"W-well… I..."

"No." Chase gently placed a paw over Marshall's muzzle. "Y-you know what? Don't answer that… N-not yet. Not until… until you're good and ready..."

Chase gave Marshall a tearful smile, which Marshall was quick to return. However, Chase's smile dissolved very quickly upon taking a good look at the haggard-looking, filth-covered pup before him.

"Oh, Marshall..." Chase whispered, continuing to weep. "Y-you… you look awful… This… this was my-"

"Hold it right there." Marshall shakily cut Chase off. "Chase, do NOT tell me that this was your fault. I don't want to hear 'I failed you'. This wasn't your fault at all. I don't blame you for a second. This wasn't anybody's fault!"

"Except…" Chase stuttered tearfully, screwing his eyes closed. "Except… CALI'S..."

Marshall was taken aback at the sheer hatred Chase put behind that name. Much though Marshall wanted to deny it, he wouldn't be able to. However accidentally, Cali had nearly killed him on that day. There was no changing that. But Marshall being Marshall, he didn't blame her for it. In fact, he forgave her. Cali may have been snooty and grouchy, but how would she feel about causing one of the Paw Patrol's "deaths"? More to the point, how was she being treated after the fact? Marshall gulped slightly at the thought of Cali being villified for a simple accident. "Guess helping her will be my next assignment..." Marshall thought to himself, before pulling himself back to reality.

"Well, it doesn't matter now…" Marshall whispered, his tears having mostly dried. "I'm safe… And I found you again-" Marshall cut himself off as he started to cough, his throat dry from only taking small sips of water.

"Marshall!" Chase yelled, ceasing his own crying immediately. "Wh-what's wrong?! Are you hurt?! Sick?! What do you need?!"

"Chase, easy! I'm just thirsty… and hungry… Not much to eat or drink out there..."

"Then we gotta go back home and get you some food and water! Besides…" Chase's voice turned to a quieter, more solemn one. "...I need to show you something… Come on..."

"Gladly..." Marshall sighed, being slightly hesitant to pull away from Chase. But Marshall soon dragged himself back to his feet and followed behind Chase as they slowly made their way back to his truck.

Chase couldn't believe what was going on. The world had seemed to go into overdrive around him. The past few days had been a blur. The shepherd had mostly shut down entirely from the loss of his closest friend. Marshall had fallen to his death right in front of him, and Chase was unable to do a thing to save him. All the gadgets in the world and he was completely powerless. But it seems that fate itself had taken pity on him. Three days later, Marshall had returned to them. Marshall had survived against all the odds. And he'd somehow managed to slog his way back to them. Chase was at his lowest for those three days, and now his spirits had been sent through the roof just like that.

Chase looked over at the filthy dalmatian sat slumped in the passenger seat as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Chase couldn't resist the urge to lean over and give Marshall one more hug before setting back off towards the Lookout. All those days of depression had been rendered moot in a few moments. Fate truly moved in mysterious ways.

"I still can't believe you're OK..." Chase whispered.

"Neither can I..." Marshall whispered back, nuzzling Chase tightly.

* * *

_**I return once more. I mentioned back in the Afterword of Bulldog in a Bind that I was writing a series of one-shots as my next fic, and this is one of them... or rather, it WAS, until I realised that I was going overboard with it. So I've decided to split it in two and upload it as its own thing. A two-shot, if you will. I'll be uploading this on a daily basis, since there's only one other chapter to it.**_

_**Not much else to say here. Thanks for listening, and I'll be back with the next upload tomorrow.**_


	2. The Nightmare's End

Marshall had never felt more content as Chase drove him home. But at the same time, he felt a sense of trepidation. If Chase had reacted the way he did, how were the other pups feeling? Something told him that he should probably brace for a lot more emotions to come. Though Marshall was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he found that they had stopped a little while shy of the bridge to the Lookout, parking off to the side of the road.

"Huh?" Marshall said. "Chase? Why have we stopped?"

"Well..." Chase replied. "I don't wanna wake the other pups. And like I said, I have something to show you."

"But shouldn't we wake them? They wanna know I'm OK… right?"

"Of course they do! But..." Chase gave Marshall a pleading expression. "I just want you to myself for a little longer… I know that's not right… is it?"

"Well no… But you know..." Marshall gave a sad smile before gently licking Chase's face. "I don't think I mind it..."

Chase smiled in response as the pair hopped out, only for Marshall to trip over his own paws on his way down, landing flat on his face.

"I'm OK!"

Chase first froze up in horror, before clasping his paws over his mouth and desperately trying to suppress the urge to burst out laughing. Further evidence to Marshall of how badly Chase missed him when he heard the muffled snickering.

"C'mon. Shh."

Chase led Marshall over the bridge on foot. As much as Chase didn't want Marshall to have to keep walking thanks to the three-day hike the poor dalmatian endured, he didn't want to wake the pups, either. Once they saw that Marshall had miraculously survived, Chase was sure that what happened in his little reunion with him was going to happen again, but with four other pups in the mix.

Slowly, a strange shape came into focus at the side of the Lookout as the pair approached. But when Marshall saw what exactly the shape was, his heart juddered to a halt.

The sight was his pup house, but radically different to how he remembered it. It was completely inaccessible, if not for the giant portrait of his smiling face set up in the middle of it, then for the sea of flowers and candles placed in front of it. Black banners were draped over it. Cards of condolence, flower wreaths and even his teddy were laid out around the pup house.

Marshall swallowed hard as his blood turned to ice. Chase was effectively showing Marshall his own tomb. The sight was completely surreal and haunting to say the least.

"This is how we were feeling…" Chase whispered. "This is what was happening while you were gone… I mean… when we had to tell the pups that you were dead… I..."

"Chase..." Marshall whispered. "I mean, I know it looked like I died out there, but… were things really… this bad?"

"We'll talk more in a sec. Follow me."

Chase led Marshall around the bays, showing him that half of the remaining pup houses were empty. But the ones that were filled made the dalmatian's heart drop. The first filled house was Rubble's, occupied by not just the familiar bulldog, but Skye, too. He couldn't help but notice how miserable they both looked in their sleep. He also couldn't help but notice the large, dried puddle underneath both of their heads. It didn't take much imagination to figure out that the two had cried themselves to sleep.

Next was Rocky's pup house, being shared with Zuma. Only Zuma was clinging onto Rocky for dear life with his eyes squeezed shut and emitting a series of soft whimpers, obviously suffering from horrible nightmares. Rocky, too, was obviously not sleeping soundly, considering the look of pain on his face as he slept.

Marshall froze. He desperately wanted to go and wake the pair of them up and give them the biggest hug he could muster. The creeping sensation of guilt started to take him over.

"Hey, Marshall..." Chase hissed. "Come on."

"But…" Marshall quietly replied. "...they look so… upset… Can't I wake them up?"

"Marshall..." The pleading expression returned to Chase's face. "...please..."

Marshall sighed heavily under his breath. "Let's make it quick." he replied. "I don't want them to think I'm dead for much longer."

"Of course."

Chase and Marshall went inside the Lookout as quietly as they could. Marshall was starting to feel overwhelmed. He had a feeling the pups would react terribly to news of his "death", but not quite to this extreme. After turning on the lights, Chase pushed two blue bowls full of food and water towards Marshall.

"These are yours." Chase said with a smile. "All yours. Don't be shy."

Marshall gasped. "Th-thank you!"

Chase only smiled more widely as Marshall practically inhaled the food and water before him. Within seconds, the bowls were completely devoid of their contents, leaving Marshall breathing deeply in relief.

"Ahhh… So much… So much better..." Marshall sighed.

"We can deal with all that mud in your fur later." Chase said. "C'mere. Take a load off."

In the time that Marshall had spent eating, Chase had moved over to a beanbag, patting the empty space next to him, wearing the same smile as ever. Marshall responded by hopping onto the beanbag and snuggling close to Chase. After so much walking, having something comfortable to sit on was most welcome. As was Chase swiftly throwing his arms around him. If it weren't for the intensity of the current situation, Marshall likely would've blacked out then and there.

"So… Ready to share?" Chase asked.

"Just about." Marshall replied. "It's a heck of a long story. See..."

Marshall went on to recount his three day hike to Chase, making sure not to leave out the details of how lonely he was and how he frequently wondered if he'd ever make it, considering how far down the river he went and how the leaves and grass he was forced to live off of barely provided enough energy to keep him going. Chase listened on in horror at the trials that Marshall had to endure, expressing amazement that everything ended up going well for him, all things considered. All he could do in response to Marshall's mention of things feeling hopeless and his considerations of giving up was hug him even more tightly, doing his best not to cry again.

"And yet you kept going until the bitter end… That's so like you..." Chase whispered.

Marshall briefly cracked a smile in response to Chase's praise. "Chase… What were things like while I was gone?" Marshall was dreading finding out, despite the burning curiosity in his brain. "Were things… really that bad?"

"'That bad'? They were way worse! The entire town thought you were dead! We're still preparing your funeral! All the pups couldn't stop crying when we broke the news!" The painful stories the two were telling proved too much for Chase to handle, prompting him to break down in tears again. "E-everyone came by to… to pay their respects… Mr. Porter brought Alex… the kid was c-crying the whole time… Jake said that Everest had… totally shut down… Mayor G-Goodway looked like she'd been crying too... A-and Carlos came by w-with Tracker… Th-they didn't even speak to us the whole time… Even… E-Even HUMDINGER came by! He said… he never w-wanted it to come to this!"

It was surprisingly easy for Marshall to picture this depressing reality in his head. It would explain why the atmosphere of his hometown was so heavy on his return. He started to imagine how much pain everyone went through, and the guilt came back full force for him. Guilt that filled him up and spilled out through his eyes.

"No… No, no, no, no, NO!" Marshall sobbed, quickly throwing his arms around Chase. "I-I'm so sorry! I hurt you all so badly! I didn't… d-didn't even think I… I-I..."

Marshall found himself cut off by Chase abruptly squeezing him even more tightly. "No. Shut up. Do NOT apologize! This wasn't your fault at all! It was… it was CALI'S fault! She made you fall into the river! If it wasn't for her, none of this would be happening!" The two simply laid on the beanbag, crying once again at the pain of the emotional scars the pair had suffered.

"But… we got you back…" Chase sniffled after a couple of minutes. "And we will NEVER. Let you go again. Not ever."

"I… I'm not going anywhere this time… I promise." Marshall replied. "B-but… What about you and Ryder? You were the last two I saw before..."

Chase's body stiffened at the mention of his owner's name. Something told Marshall that he wasn't going to like what Chase was about to tell him.

"We all took what happened badly… But Ryder took it hardest, I think..." Chase said. "He didn't stop crying all the way back to the Lookout, and then he ran to his room… We haven't seen him since, but I heard that when someone tried to talk to him… he just screamed at them to leave him alone… I heard Skye say she tried it… then Rocky… But they all said the same thing… Even when Katie tried to talk to him… He acted like she wasn't even there..."

Marshall whined. "Wait. You 'heard'? You didn't try and talk to him yourself?"

Chase sighed. "After I broke the news… Everything fell apart… I just kinda shut myself in my pup house… I only came out a couple times in the last few days to get some water… When you found me on the beach… That was the first time I'd even left the Lookout since..."

"Huh? But what about eating? Taking a bath? Talking to people?"

"I... didn't do any of that..." Chase squeezed his eyes shut in preparation for the tongue-lashing Marshall was obviously about to give him.

"You WHAT?!" Marshall yelled, doing his best to keep his volume under control. "You mean to tell me all this time you weren't taking care of yourself at all?! Chase, you know how bad that is for you! I know you were all hurt, but starving yourself?! If I'd known that you hadn't eaten for days, I wouldn't have had that food you gave me!"

"Why do you think I stayed quiet?" Chase whispered.

"And the pups! They all would've needed you! And you would've needed them! And you shut yourself away?!"

"...me? You're worrying about me? My best friend. My baby brother died right in front of me. All I could do was watch. For the last three days, I've been stuck thinking about that nonstop… And you're worrying about me taking care of myself?!"

Chase was struggling to keep from outright yelling, despite the tears coming back to his eyes.

"Do you have any idea how much it hurt?! I kept thinking that I wasn't good enough to save you! I knew that I should've been there for the pups and Ryder! But I was so… so weak! I couldn't bring myself to even leave my pup house! Whenever someone tried to talk to me, I didn't even have the words to reply! All I could think about was you! And how badly I failed! And all this time, I kept thinking it should've been me! Why did I have watch you die?! Why couldn't I be in your place?! What did you do to deserve any of that?!"

When Chase finally stopped talking, he noticed Marshall staring back at him with a look of wide-eyed, tearful horror. If it wasn't clear to him how Chase was feeling before, it certainly was now. Once again, the two held each other close and broke down.

"B-But… We-we have you back…" Chase sobbed. "Against all the odds… You came back… That… Th-that's all that matters now..."

"Y-yeah…" Marshall whimpered. "That… That w-was one of the w-worst three days of my life... I-I don't… w-want to be taken away from you again..."

"You won't. I swear." Chase held on to Marshall even more tightly, while giving him a determined glare with red, bloodshot eyes. "I-I won't let anything that horrible happen again... I just got a second chance, here. And I'm NOT going to blow it."

Marshall couldn't help but smile through his tears. "And I'm not g-gonna let that happen again either… I'm… never going to let myself get taken away from you all again..."

Chase smiled back as he bumped his forehead against Marshall's. "Y-you… You promise?"

"Promise..."

"Cross your heart?

Marshall pulled back and mimed drawing an X-shape over his chest. "Crossed."

The two swiftly pulled back in and embraced each other as tightly as they could. For all the pain they'd suffered. Through all the agony. There was one thing that was clear to them now.

The bad dream was finally over. The bad dream that seemed to have no end had ended with the pair of them reunited after being torn apart from each other. They simply laid on the beanbag in each other's arms for a few minutes, thanking the fates above for Marshall's safe return after the horrible tragedy that had ensued. Soon, however, Chase broke the silence.

"So… You think you're ready to see Ryder?"

"As I'll ever be..." Marshall sighed.

"He's gonna be over the moon..."

"You think so?"

"Pff, what kinda question is that?!"

"B-but what if he's mad at me?"

"He won't be mad at you at all! C'mon!"

Marshall saw that he didn't have a lot of choice in the matter as he followed Chase off of the beanbag and into the elevator.

"Oh, and Chase?" Marshall said, taking his place next to Chase in the elevator. "Once we get up there, I'm not going any further until you get some food."

"Are you still worrying about me not eating?" Chase replied. "Look, I'm fine. Don't go worrying yourself about me!"

"You haven't eaten in three days and you just gave me all of your food. If you want me to feel better, you're going to get some treats from the dispensers up there and eat them, and that's final."

Chase snickered at Marshall putting his foot down like this as the elevator began to ascend. "I missed you so much, Marshall. More than anything..." He leaned in and nuzzled Marshall harder than ever, which Marshall was quick to return.

"I missed you more, Chase..." Marshall gave Chase a brief lick, only to gag slightly. "Heh… Salty..."

Chase only smiled in response to Marshall's assessment of the situation. "I missed you times infinity..."

Chase had done what Marshall had said after arriving at the top. He really hadn't realised how hungry he was after not eating for three days. But after the weight of Marshall's supposed death had been lifted, Chase found himself emptying nearly the entire dispenser, punctuating his impromptu feast with a giant burp.

"Er… Sorry." Chase said meekly.

"Don't act like you don't feel better!" Marshall replied through laughter.

"Well, I do… But this is gonna make me so fat..."

"As long as you're eating, who cares?" Marshall asked, moving over to the doors to the Lookout's balcony and stepping out, staring out over the city.

"I wasn't sure I'd see this again, you know." Marshall said wistfully.

"Trust me Marshall." Chase replied, walking over next to him. "You'll be seeing way more of it."

"I hope so… I'm not in a hurry to go back to the forest… Right now, all I wanna do is just stay in Adventure Bay..."

"After that? I'd say you've earned a little time off around town."

"Hey! Who's there?!"

There was no doubt that that was Ryder's voice. But he sounded hugely irritated and confrontational. As if he was a completely different person in his grief. Chase began to yearn for Ryder to arrive already so that he could finally snap out of his deep depression.

"Well. It's time." Chase whispered, turning to the source of the noise.

"Guess so." Marshall replied, doing the same and internally bracing himself for meeting Ryder again, seeing the beam of a flashlight come from around the corner.

"Chase, is that you?! Who are you talking to?! What are you even doing up here?! Do you have any idea what time it-"

Ryder shone the beam of his flashlight at the two pups for a couple of seconds while continuing to rant on. But only after that time had passed did the boy react with a gasp so loud that the pups were surprised that he didn't end up moving them closer with the force of it. Ryder had jumped, dropping the flashlight he was wielding on the floor, smashing it to bits. The look of ferocity on his face had changed to one of shock not dissimilar to Chase's earlier on.

With a dropped jaw and wide eyes, Ryder started to breathe heavily. His hands were shaking rapidly for a few seconds before he dropped to his knees, the weight of the revelation being too much for him to handle. After three days of pushing everyone away in anger at being unable to save one of his own. Three days of wallowing in his supposed failure. Three days of questioning his own leadership. Three days of crying in anguish over the death of his beloved fire pup. Here that same pup was standing right in front of him. Bedecked in mud and other filth, but very much alive. Overwhelmed by what he was seeing, Ryder slowly began to cry.

"M-muh… Ma-Marshall…?" Ryder stammered with tears filling his eyes. "Is… I-is… that..."

"Believe it or not, Ryder..." Marshall interrupted, with tears of his own beginning to form in his eyes. "...you're not dreaming… It really is me…"

The ensuing pause of about five seconds felt like an eternity to the three. But that was all the time it took for Ryder's breathing to become faster and more erratic. Breathing which quickly turned into sobbing. Sobbing which turned into hysterics as Ryder swiftly rose up and dived at the pups, throwing his arms around the pair of them and screaming tearfully while hugging them tightly enough to practically crack their bones.

The sight of Ryder in tears was always a hard one to comprehend. The sight of Ryder in total hysterics was even more so. But after him being an angry, spiteful, reclusive shell of himself for the past couple of days, it was an oddly welcome sight, if a contagious one. It didn't take long for Marshall and Chase to join in as their owner wailed more loudly than they ever thought possible.

But with the door to the Lookout's balcony open, the other four pups soon came running to investigate why their owner was suddenly crying his heart out so deeply. Only for theirs to stop altogether when they saw the wailing bundle of spotted fur in his arms. The reaction was near-immediate. After a period of shock for all four of them, they burst into tears and charged forward like a horde of bulls and hurled themselves at their supposedly-dead friend, clinging to him for dear life and forming a giant group hug.

The Lookout had never gotten quite as loud as it had on that night. If the Lookout didn't sit on an isolated island, then the ensuing wailing from all seven of them likely would've woken up everyone in a several block-wide radius. If there's one thing that the entire Paw Patrol had in common, it's that none of them were graceful criers. Least of all Ryder. But every single one of them had a very good reason for their tears.

Their family was finally whole once more. Never to be broken again.

**CONTINUED IN REKINDLED ANEW**

* * *

**_And that's it. A short one, but hopefully one that was still enjoyable. I don't have much to say, so I'll try and keep this short._**

**_For the one-shot collection that I'm trying to write, I'm trying to keep each story relatively short (around 4K words at most, let's say), so I've got to try and keep myself from getting carried away. Advice that I haven't been following very well... because I've done it again. I was coming up with ideas for one-shots, and another came into my head, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised "...OK, yeah, I'm not going to fit all of this into a one-shot"._**

**_You know what's funny? It's an idea that I swore up and down I'd never do, but the more thought I gave it, the more I liked what I'd come up with. So to avoid waste, I'm going to focus on that one next. This one, I'm more comfortable revealing to you. This one's going to be an origin story on how Chase and Marshall met (and by extension how the Paw Patrol was founded). I know, not exactly untrodden ground, and it's not going to be anything overly-dark, but I think I'm onto something with it. I'm also going to be introducing ONE OC (two, maybe?) in it: a pup's parent. Again, something I said I'd never do. I guess it's good to push your own limitations sometimes, isn't it? I think I can handle this one._**

**_How many chapters will it have? How long will it take? I have to give my classic answer on it: I'm not sure. But I WILL be focusing on the one-shot collection afterwards. I swear! ...honest..._**

**_Jokes aside, I wasn't actually intending to start chasing plot bunnies, but hey, allow me a little deviance from time to time? I hope you look forward to what I have in store._**

**_Hrm... Didn't do a very good job keeping this short, did I?_**

**_Next up is Start Your Engines. Hope to see you then.  
_**

**_PyreFly out._**


End file.
